You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Fat Duck chef and kitchen wizard Heston Blumenthal's latest title from Bloomsbury, which is due to be published on 3rd October, will aim to transfer his technical talents into the home, with editor Richard Atkinson calling it an "unashamedly domestic cookbook".
The book is divided into two sections, one focusing on kitchen techniques, and the second made up of 150 recipes. Heston at Home is intended to be for fans of the high-tech cook, but with recipes that bypass his more outlandish methods and ingredients; his restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, is renowned for dishes such as snail porridge, mock turtle soup and mustard ice cream. Recipes from the book highlighted by Atkinson include the ultimate cheese toastie and a tiramisu with under a dozen ingredients.
The techniques in the first half of the book will be divided into 15 sections, including: taste and flavour; brining, curing, marinating and macerating; sauces, emulsion and thickening; and taking control of the kitchen. The book will also contain about 150 photographs, which will be "very smart, stylishly taken" says Atkinson.
Atkinson said: "The idea behind it is that with a certain amount of precision that is not difficult to acquire, you can create these extraordinary meals . . . for the first time. It's not rocket science," said Atkinson.
On the likely buyers of this title, he added: "Heston has his own core constituency: people who want to burrow down in the detail and are focused on the whys and wherefores. What will be new to people is just the level of simplicity . . . People love him because he is down to earth." The book will include some kitchen "gizmos", but only those "within reach" of the home cook.
Atkinson said that it was "certainly looking likely" that there would be a Channel 4 series tying in to the title, confirming that the channel had filmed a pilot.
Heston at Home will be published as a £30 hardback. Previous titles by Blumethal include The Big Fat Duck Cookbook and In Search of Perfection.